Chapter 152: Sacrificial Fodder: Always Succeeds
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 152: Sacrificial Fodder: Always Succeeds
I have never tried enhancement before.
The Zombie Apocalypse was the only game I'd ever played in my life, so there was no way I'd ever tried enhancement, a feature that was a staple of RPGs.
At most, the only "probability" I'd ever dealt with was the 50-50 chance of getting infected when bitten by a zombie...
...or the ridiculously low drop rates when farming for a single "Rare" item.
Because of that, I wasn't prepared to handle this rush of dopamine.
"Sigh... Fuck..."
What if this had been a Level 4 scalpel?
It was such a shame.
Looking at the options alone, it actually rivaled a Level 4 scalpel.
If I added enchants to it, it would at least be comparable to a pre-enchanted scalpel when placed side by side.
Of course, it was true that it only had two basic options, and the "Rare" option was conditional, making it a bit lacking.
But the very fact that I could even use the word "comparison" with a "Special" grade Level 4 item was already fucking insane.
"And since it's a sword... it's actually not bad."
I had been furious, but as my head cooled down, I realized I had used a pretty decent Level 2 item as sacrificial fodder for this enhancement.
To be honest, I don't prefer longswords.
I mean, if I had to use one, a longsword would easily rank in my top three most-used weapons.
But in the Zombie Apocalypse, my main weapon is usually a gun, and for a secondary melee weapon, I prefer a short dagger or a blunt weapon.
People who only read novels always spout bullshit about how longswords are the absolute best. Sure, on a wide-open road, a longsword has great reach and is good for fighting off hordes of zombies.
But inside a cramped building or in a place surrounded by zombies on all sides, a longsword can't really show its true potential.
Reach is only an advantage when you can maintain your distance.
Swinging a longsword at a zombie that suddenly pops into your field of vision won't even deliver half of its potential power.
Well, with my current stats, that's a different story, but still.
And I have my survival belt.
The scalpel is great, of course, but its reach is too short, which can be a bit of a drawback. If a weapon with a longer reach happened to drop right now, wouldn't it be decent to use as a backup?
Though the fact that it's only Level 2 is a bit of a sticking point for me.
But honestly, with the options it has, I wouldn't feel bad using it as is.
"I was thinking of getting a blunt weapon, but... should I just go with this?"
My mind is slowly swaying.
I could also sell it.
If I sold it, I'd probably get a ridiculously high price for it.
Some small faction would probably empty their entire treasury and beg me to sell it to them.
Even a faction like the Jamsil Sports Complex brought 50,000 coins just to repair their base, so there must be a few other places that have gathered that many coins.
But using it seemed better than selling it.
Without even thinking about practical matters, I had poured all my luck into this thing. Selling it for coins felt like a waste.
So, I made up my mind.
"Should I try making this a God-tier item?"
I brought up an RPG term I'd heard somewhere.
Jijon-jak—a God-tier masterpiece.
A word that didn't fit the Zombie Apocalypse at all.
I began to ponder, using a term that only users with highly detailed enhancement or item modes installed would ever use.
"If I'm going to do this, I have to go all the way."
The foundation was laid.
With the +3 enhancement, I had to treat it as a weapon that was at least equivalent to a Level 4 "Rare" grade.
If only I could add more options to make up for what it lacked through enchanting...
And if I could just get one or two more levels of enhancement on it?
Then it might actually slap a Level 4 scalpel right in the face.
"So this is what enhancement is all about."
To be honest, before trying it myself, I had been skeptical about enhancement.
To be precise, I had a very negative view of enhancing low-level items.
Since the system existed, I figured people would do it, but anyone who understood efficiency would think, Why bother?
I thought any user who had played the Zombie Apocalypse would just hear the explanation and go, Huh? Why would anyone do that?
But in this area, there were things that even hardcore Zombie Apocalypse survival enthusiasts didn't know.
Enhancing low-level items was actually highly efficient.
Of course, in the end game, high-level item enhancement and enchanting would absolutely dominate in terms of performance.
But considering the material gathering and the success rates required for high-level item enhancement and enchanting, the risk was far too high.
Enhancement even carried a risk of damaging the item.
What if you picked up an awesome Level 4 item, finally worked up the courage to hit enhance, and it got damaged?
Instead of upgrading its value, it could become worthless, to the point where you couldn't even sell it.
On the other hand, low-level items could be enhanced with relatively little pressure.
Anyone could obtain enhancement stones, even if it was a bit difficult.
And if you got lucky, you could enhance it cheaply to achieve the performance "grade" of an unobtainable item.
Above all, it was fun.
"So this is the thrill."
First, I returned to the weapon storage with the sacrificial longsword.
I grabbed ten Level 2 enchantment stones.
After clearing out ten shelves' worth of items—excluding those with "Rare" options—I ended up with about thirty to forty of them. I'd probably need to make a separate storage box just for enchantment stones.
"Hmm. This is the right call, right?"
If I wasn't going to do it at all, that would be one thing.
But since I'd decided to do it, I had to go all the way.
To make it a "semi-endgame" weapon that I could use for the time being, it needed to transcend its Level 2 origins. To do that, I needed Level 2 enchantment stones.
Since it was a Level 2 item, the base enchant success rate was 10%, and there was a 1% chance of gaining an additional enchant slot for items Level 3 or below.
What I was hoping for was whether my enhancement effect would apply to this 1% chance as well, boosting it by +10%.
It would be great if it did.
Even if it didn't, if that 1% chance somehow succeeded by pure luck, it would count as another successful enchant, so I'd still use it.
"It's a 20% chance."
I tossed an enchantment stone at the longsword.
[Enchant Failure!]
"Ah, fuck."
Honestly, I had high expectations.
Is this item destined for greatness?
Am I going to pull off something crazy today?
I succeeded on 15% and 12.5% chances on the very first try, so a 20% chance should honestly be a breeze.
A +1 enchant should be practically guaranteed.
And so on.
Because I set up over ten death flags in such a short span of time, it failed like clockwork.
"...Please."
I threw the second enchantment stone.
I still had plenty of enchantment stones left, but that didn't mean I could just squander them.
[Enchant Failure!]
"Ah, fucking hell!!!!!!!"
I regained my composure.
I was getting way too angry over nothing.
It was just probability, after all.
The concept of regression to the mean, which I'd read about somewhere, came to mind.
Right.
I got that +3 enhancement practically for free.
Let's think positively.
It might actually be better to fail here.
If I failed an enhancement, there was a 40% chance that the item would be damaged. But with this, there was no penalty; only my precious enchantment stones were disappearing.
Let's remember how I started.
I had been lucky enough to get a Level 4 item all the way to +3 enchants.
How did I do it back then?
I had done it even without an enhancement mode.
"Like it was nothing."
Toss.
Toss.
I had just tossed them.
I grabbed three enchantment stones.
With these, that made exactly five. With a 20% success rate, at least one of them had to succeed.
I closed my eyes.
Toss. Toss. Toss.
I opened my eyes and swiped away the system messages.
"Did it succeed?!"
I checked the item.
It hadn't.
"..."
Without a word, I threw the remaining five enchantment stones at the item.
[Enchant Failure!]
[Enchant Failure!]
[Enchant Failure!]
[Enchant Failure!]
[Enchant Failure!]
"Ah, I should have just thrown it away as sacrificial fodder."
I felt a deep conflict brewing.
Should I cut my losses and throw it away now?
But what about the Level 2 enchantment stones I'd already wasted?
As I was agonizing over this, Kim Ji-hee walked over from the adjacent warehouse.
"Huh? Oppa? What are you doing here?"
"I was debating whether to kill this item or let it live."
"Enhancement? Are you doing that?"
"Yeah. No, enchanting."
"So it's different from what you were doing yesterday?"
"This bastard is a real dick."
"If it's Oppa's dick, isn't it a pretty good friend...?"
"..."
I called Kim Ji-hee over.
"Kya!"
I reached inside her comfortable work clothes and grabbed her breast.
"Phew... Fuck... Time for the titty enhancement method."
Kim Ji-hee leaned into me so I could touch her more easily.
With my right hand, I pulled out five more enchantment stones.
"Put these away. Set up a separate shelf just for enchantment stones."
"Okay. I saw some things called enhancement stones come in too. Should I separate those as well?"
"Yeah. Make sure you separate the enhancement stones and enchantment stones so we don't get them mixed up."
"Okaay. Mmm..."
Groping her breast brought a sense of peace, soothing both my mind and body.
And then, I threw an enchantment stone.
[Enchant Success!]
"Yes!"
Maybe the titty enhancement method actually works?
Of course, after failing ten fucking times in a row, it would have been ridiculous if it didn't succeed now.
But I felt a strange sensation.
A subtle feeling, similar to when I hit +3 enchants on the Level 4 scalpel.
Did I actually have some kind of instinct for this?
"Did it work?"
"One succeeded."
"Oh, wow!"
I immediately threw two more.
[Enchant Failure!]
[Enchant Failure!]
"Ah."
As if I'd have an instinct like that.
Still, I hoped at least one more would succeed.
Deciding to just throw the rest of what I'd pulled out, check the options, and then make up my mind, I threw two in a row.
[Great Enchant Success!]
[Great Enchant Success!]
Seeing the 1% chance trigger twice in a row, it seemed the +10% success rate applied to the great success chance as well.
[Delicate Longsword (2★)][+3 Enhancement][+3 Enchant]
"...As expected, longswords are the best weapons. I'm going full romance-only longswordsman."